Veggie Tales Birthday Party

For my son's 2nd Birthday Party we did a Veggie Tales theme.  Our invitation read: "Peas come and lettuce celebrate Nehemiah's 2nd Birthday. Turnip Time: ..."  There were red, green, and yellow balloons, tablecloths, and serving wear (which I put into a foil lined garden pot).  I also bought a bunch of vegetables, glued googly eyes onto them, and made them a centerpiece on the tables.  One table was lined with Veggie Tales gift bags I got from from www.bigidea.com.  I also found some little veggie pots that I put candy worms into them (are you getting the veggie/garden theme?).  We were at a park so the kids played in the sand and I brought a baby pool that we filled with water and a bunch of ducks and had a sign that said "King George's Duck Pond 'I love my ducks'" from King George and the Rubber Ducky Veggie Tales movie.  For food we had Veggie Fries with dip, carrots, ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), chips and tomato salsa, a chicken salad, a little Bob and Larry plate (baby tomatoes and cucumbers), deviled eggs with a piece of celery on top, and quesadillas made with tomato and spinach tortillas that come in red and green colors.  

For dessert I made a Bob and Larry!  Bob is a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting dyed red.  His nose is a red skittle (S down), his stem is three mini green m&ms (m's down), his mouth is a dab of a black tubed decorators frosting, and his eyes are a dab of white frosting with two more black spots from the decorators frosting tube.  Larry is a Twinkie with the same cream cheese frosting dyed green, his nose is a green skittle (S down), and his eyes and mouth were made the same way as Bob.  We had one green and one red candle.

For games I made a large Bob and a bunch of red noses from construction paper/poster board.  We played "pin the nose on Bob" by putting a piece of tape on the back of the noses, spinning around the kids (blindfolded if older), and stuck the nose where you thought it should go.  After they stuck it on, I wrote their name on the nose so we could keep track of whose nose was whose.  I also made a "Giant Pickle" from Dave and the Giant Pickle Veggie Tales movie.  I copied his image from Google images, put it into a word document and then printed him onto two sheets of green paper and a sheet of white and purple paper.  I trimmed him out and glued the colored parts onto the green.  We pinned him to a tree and told the story of David and Goliath from the Bible and then threw red and green water balloons at him until he was "defeated" and fell off the pins holding him to the tree!!  Our last game was a potato race where the kids grabbed a potato (the ones from the table decorations that I had glued eyes onto) and kicked or pushed it across the finish line.  The kids loved that one!  Lastly I had all the kids gather in front of a giant Bob and Larry that I had made with a piece of red construction paper, two green and some white and black.  (It was really easy to make if you have a picture.)  They all sat on the ground and I took a photo of them, had it developed, and used the back of the picture to write a thank you note for coming and for any gifts.  

I made the goodie bag inserts to cut out some costs.  A Veggie Tales Door Hanger.  A Veggie Tales Coloring Book that said each kid's name at the top "Joel's Coloring Book" and "From Nehemiah's 2nd Birthday: July 22, 2010" at the bottom.  A Veggie Tales bookmark that says "God made you special."  I also put in a small pot, some soil, and some lettuce seeds (cucumbers weren't in season or I would have done that).  I folded the seed into a piece of paper and wrote "Grow your own lettuce" which was cheaper than buying a lot of packages.  I recommend folding the seeds up in the paper and taping it shut.  Then I threw a couple of pieces of candy in there.  So fun!!  I also made a document outlining some ideas for the party so that I didn't forget anything and could keep organized.